The Songs That Saved Us : My Dad, Dementia and Me

An unforgettable tribute to the unbreakable bond between a father and son When Simon McDermott first noticed his dad Ted’s sudden flares of temper and fits of forgetfulness, he couldn’t have guessed what lay ahead. Then came the devastating, inevitable diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. The dad Simon knew seemed to be drifting further away, and he had no idea how to reach him. Then, one day in the car, Simon hit play on Ted’s favourite song. And just like that, they were simply two mates driving around Blackburn, singing at the top of their lungs. That moment would change the course of their lives forever. Simon filmed their adventure, uploaded the video to YouTube and woke up to messages, tweets and his phone ringing off the hook. Their carpool karaoke had gone viral all the way across the globe. But a record deal, Pride of Britain Awards, over £130,000 raised for The Alzheimer’s Society and a Top 10 single later, Simon was still losing Ted. That’s when he made a decision. His Dad – the storyteller of his childhood and his best friend – couldn’t tell his own story, so Simon would tell it for him. This is that story. Full of poignant moments, the ups and downs of family life and treasured memories, The Songaminute Man is a story of two halves: a celebration of the man Ted was, and a powerful and moving account of caring for a loved one.